Utah's Canyons

Little Cottonwood Canyon

In Salt Lake City my friend Kathy took me to 2 nearby canyons to hike in the mountains and to look for wildflowers.  The wildflowers peak in July but there are still some around.  This canyon is the home of Snowbird and Alta ski areas.  The road is wide enough, winding and punctuated by what is in the next picture.

Avalanche Gates

Yes you could get stuck at the ski areas due to an avalanche.  Hotels in the area are built with strong concrete supports and the wall in the direction of avalanche danger has no windows.
There is smoke from fires burning quite far away and haze can be seen in all of my pictures.  A little heartbreaking because normally Salt Lake is clear and brilliant blue sky surrounded by high rocky mountains.

We hiked up a trail headed for Katherine's Pass.  We found these asters - a sign of a waning summer.  More of my favorites follow.

Fireweed

 

 

I found this pink fireweed along the trail which is a mile and a half long but I could not go that far due to the altitude.  Still I did pretty well.  We climbed halfway,  about 800 feet up and we were at about 9,500 feet in altitude.  Here is my favorite wildflower.  I couldn't identify it.

More scenery.

This is the view from the trail.  We were at the Alta Ski area climbing past the chair lifts.

We had lunch on a terrace at the Cliff resort overlooking the tram gliding up and down the mountain.

The next day we went into Big Cottonwood Canyon which has a different look with more dramatic rocks and hairpin turns.

 

At the Brighton Ski Area we hiked around a small lake where the ducks were unafraid and there were groups on outings and people fishing.

As we came down the mountain we stopped at a little parking place and hiked up a path to a waterfall.  When I say hike remember they were all easy with gentle hills because I am not used to the altitude.  With less oxygen I was short of breath quickly.

Next, Salt Lake City and "The" choir.